


The Sun is Rising

by sollobo



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, But It's Not Super Prominent, Canon Compliant Up To s06e02, Episode: s06e02 Razor's Edge, Family Dynamics, Friendship, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Langst, Lions are sick of constantly saving their idiot sons, M/M, Not Really Character Death, Questionable Altean Magic, Sentient Voltron Lions, Slow Burn, Tagging With Klance For Later Chapters, Telepathy, deviates from canon but then sort of comes back to it, just go with it, magic lance, red paladin lance, slowest of slow burns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-06-22 17:34:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15587121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sollobo/pseuds/sollobo
Summary: Lance sacrificed himself to save Allura and she, in turn, saved him.But what if she didn't.Allura's magic doesn't work and now Lance is gone, just like Shiro. Or so everyone thinks.A story in which the Lions are protective of their paladins and Altean magic is a god damn mystery to everyone.





	1. Gone

**Author's Note:**

> This is my Lance playlist. Feel free to give it a listen while you read. It's intended to be songs that Lance himself would listen to:  
> [playlist here](https://open.spotify.com/user/1242203615/playlist/3ajnTDgqmuTNakJGQW9TD9?si=sfE4rGoPS22Pe2BAoeoWhA)

                Allura can feel the magic racing towards her fingertips, urged forward by her panic. Her heartbeat is pounding in her ears and her magic pulses into Lance in time.  

 

                _Ba-bump_

                _BA-BUMPba-Bump_

                _BA-BUMP_

 

                Every chaotic beat sends a wave of energy into Lance’s body and it terrifies Allura how easily he soaks it up. She can feel his body funneling in the magic. But she can also feel it dissipate after it finds there is nothing to hold it there. It fizzles away, faster than a lightning bolt, but Allura urges her magic forward. She prays to the old Gods that have been forgotten for 10,000 years, hoping after all this time, they may still be listening.  

 

                _Please save him. I can’t fail now. Not this time._

 

                Allura’s magic pulses with intensity, searching the dark cavity that used to be a boy. She digs and digs and finds nothing. She searches for the echo of a too loud laugh and only hears silence. Searches for glinting sapphire irises and only sees an inky black sea.

 

                When her hands begin to shake and the pounding in her ears turns into a splitting pain, she ignores it. It takes her a moment to recognize the noise that slowly crescendos in her ears. The sounds are deafening; the screeching of metal being torn and bent, of the sea surging forward and crashing into itself, a beast wailing as it drowns.

 

                A song of grief tinged in _blue_.  

 

                _No. No NO!_

 

                Allura places her full palm on his helmet. She thinks of every memory she can conjure. Thinks of Lance handing her his bayard and how he curled her fingers around it. _Take care of her. You deserve this._ Thinks of Lance holding an Altean broadsword, stance unsteady but shoulders wide and proud. A glimmer of a different man stands in his place. _You deserve this too._

                She reaches out to him like she would to form Voltron. Colors bleed into her vision, so bright they’re blinding. A warm purple beacon, streaks of green, splashes of yellow. She blinks and almost misses it. A droplet of red.

 

                With one mighty push she feels _everything_.

 

                And then she feels nothing. Her magic floats lazily from her fingertips, searching for purchase. Her limbs are left cold as her magic retreats back into her body. Her eyes are screwed shut and there is a buzzing in her ears. Her fingers close in on themselves and the leather of her gloves crinkle over her knuckles. Her fist falls to the arm of the red lion’s pilot seat.

                The _thunk_ of metal on metal has her flinching her eyes open. Allura looks down at her fist as it lays on the empty armrest. She stares at it for a moment.

 

                She blinks once.

 

                Twice.

 

                Her eyes finally raise to the empty pilot’s seat and the roar of sounds comes rushing in all at once.

 

                _“ALLURA! LANCE!”_

 

                _“WHAT’S HAPPENING? PRINCESS PLEASE RESPOND!”_

 

                _“ARE YOU GUYS OKAY? WHAT’S GOING ON?”_

 

                _“I CAN’T GET A VIDEO FEED IN THE RED LION! IT’S COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN!”_

 

                _“ALLURA WHAT’S GOING ON IN THERE?”_

 

                Her hand stretches forward to the seat of the chair, feels the warmth in the metal on her fingertips. Her vision clouds and her lungs constrict painfully. Her head falls forward, landing heavily on the vacant armrest. Her chest tightens into a coil and then springs release as a sob rips through her throat.

 

                _“He’s gone.”_

 

* * *

  


                Lance feels awareness hit him like a tidal wave. Adrenaline courses through his body and settles in his chest. His vision is hazy and the tips of his fingers feel numb.

 

                _“Lance?”_

 

                He hears his name, but it’s as if he’s underwater. The voice calls again, clearer this time.

 

                _“Lance!”_

 

                His vision clears with one final blink and he can feel pins and needles in his fingers. His head whips around, searching for the voice. He sees himself standing in an ocean on fire. No, that’s not right. There’s a sunrise to his left, bathing the water in streaks of color. To his right, twinkling stars dot the skyline, waving goodnight to the day. Tiny, molten waves lap at the ankles of his boots as he notices he’s not standing in the water but on top of it. His head spins and the pins and needles race from his fingers to engulf his body. His breath comes out in tiny wheezes as he realizes he sees no land, only ocean.

 

                “WHERE AM I?” Lance spins on his heels, right hand grasping at his thigh for a weapon that doesn’t materialize. His breaths are coming shorter now and the pins and needles are filling his lungs. He hunches over, hand clutching at his chest plate that is suddenly too tight. Lance’s vision tunnels as he stares down at the red water, no movement under the surface, no end to it’s depths.

 

                “LANCE?” All the air whooshes out of his lungs as a firm hand lands on his back. In his panic, he had forgotten about the voice calling out to him. The hand travels from shoulder to the back of his neck, warmth spreading from strong fingers. The hand slowly kneads into his nape, pulling lightly at his overgrown hair.

 

                “Hey, Lance. I need you to just breathe with me, okay? Everything is fine. Can you look at me? Lance, it’s okay now. It’s safe here,”

 

                His breathing comes back slowly. The voice makes loud, exaggerated inhales and exhales and Lance follows obediently. The pain in his chest dissipates and his vision clears to see two pairs of matching boots standing in the crimson waves. He takes in the white and black and then zooms in on the glint of silver painted gold and red and orange in the sunrise.

 

                _“Shiro?”_


	2. Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance has a meltdown, Shiro is a good space dad, and the Red Lion is unhelpful and tired.

_ SHIRO? _

 

Lance reels back, falling on his butt into the water. He feels it soaking through the cracks in his armor and through the fabric of his gloves. The water is warm and leaves a strange tingling in his fingertips. 

 

_ “What's going on? Am I dreaming? Why are you in my dream? What is this place?”  _ He was panicking again, spiraling and drowning in questions. Shiro crouches down and puts his flesh hand on his shoulder.

 

_ “Hey Lance, relax. No, this isn't a dream. Do you remember how you got here?”  _ Shiro asks him, his voice carefully even. Lance catches a concerned glint in his eye that immediately puts him on edge. 

 

_ “Um...no. Where even is here? What the quiznak is going on, Shiro?” _ Lance rambles. His hands slap the water, but it doesn't splash. A small ripple widens as it travels from his hand, colors rippling and melding, but otherwise the water remains strangely docile. 

 

_ What the- _

 

“Lance! Look at me,” Shiro demands, his hand sliding from his shoulder to his neck and tilting his head away from staring at the strange water. 

 

“Lance, I'm going to tell you something and I need you to promise to stay calm, okay? We're going to figure out what happened and how to get you back. Do you trust me?” 

 

_ With my life.  _ His brain immediately supplies, but his tongue feels too big in his mouth so he simply nods. He stares at the black symbol on Shiro's chest, watches as it shifts when he takes an exaggerated breath. 

 

“We’re in the astral plane. The Red Lion's to be exact. Something must have happened and she must have brought you here for protection. Black normally shows me what's happening in the real world, but he's been at the castle today so I'm not entirely sure what happened,” Shiro is the one rambling now, staring off at the sunrise (Or is it a sunset? Lance can’t tell) with a quizzical look on his face. 

 

“Red should be here soon. She can help explain things,” Shiro’s eyes meet Lance's and he sees him waiting for the next onslaught of questions, but they never come. As if a switch were flipped, Lance feels everything rush back into him at once. The memories flood at an unrelenting pass and Lance has no choice but to endure. 

 

The flash of light, the pain traveling through every nerve in his body, Allura's voice muffled as if he's under water, and then static and warmth. The feeling of water sliding down his spine and the whisper of an ocean breeze caressing his cheeks. Lance inhales deeply and he can taste salt on his tongue and for a moment he thinks he may be drowning. 

 

_ “-ce. Lance!”  _ Shiro’s hands are on his face now. They're large enough to span both his cheeks and half his neck. Lance feels two very different thumbs rubbing gently under his eyes, collecting the tears there. 

 

_ “I-,” _ Lance’s breath hitches.  _ “I died,”  _

 

Shiro sighs, wearily and filled with a thousand emotions that Lance can't bother to unravel right now. 

 

_ “Allura was going to get hit and I couldn't just watch it happen!” _ Lance yelled, his shoulder shaking and his hands fluttering against his chest armor. The chest plate disappeared, leaving him in his flight suit. His hand-me-down jacket landed lightly over his shoulders and Lance immediately shoved his arms through the sleeves without questioning how it appeared. Shiro's hands shifted from his face to help him bunch the jacket around his torso, then rubbed soothing circles on the jut of his shoulders. 

 

_ “I couldn't just do nothing, Shiro,”  _ Lance sniffled quietly. Tucking his chin against his chest and shrugging his jacket closer.

 

_ “I know. It's okay, we’ll find a way to get you back,”  _ Shiro said gently, a small wrinkle appearing between his brows.

 

_ “How? Shiro, I DIED! Like Dead Died! Like I saw a bright light and everything! How are-,” _ A large sigh interrupted his tirade and Lance's head whipped behind him where the ocean suddenly began to ripple. 

 

**_Your emotions are making it difficult to rest, young paladin._ **

 

A form emerges from the water, slowly morphing into the shape of a lioness who stood as tall as he did. Her fur was like an extension of the ocean, fluid and colorful, reflecting the sun in the distance and mirroring the twinkling stars. Her eyes glowed a solid gold, just like her robot form did and her tail trashed irritably behind her, a small flame flickering at the tip. 

 

“Red?”

 

 ** _Who else would I be?_** Her tail gave an agitated flick and Shiro sighed. 

 

“He just got here, Red. He's confused,” Shiro tried to reason and Red’s tail froze behind her. 

 

 ** _Yes, I noticed. He was projecting so loudly he was giving me a headache._** Her voice projected loudly in his mind, though her mouth never moved. She had a deep voice with an edge that reminded him of thunder and waterfalls. 

 

“You can't get headaches, Red,”

 

**_Do not sass me, Black Paladin._ **

 

Shiro sighs and Lance is immediately comforted. It’s the same disgruntled huff that’s tinged with equal amounts of frustration and affection. Lance heard it from Shiro on a daily basis for months before he had vanished. He hadn’t heard it since before Shiro had mysteriously vanished then returned to the team. 

 

Lance’s brain is working overtime to connect the dots. He looks at this Shiro, the one with crinkles at the corner of his eyes and the start of a worry-line near his lip and he has a revelation. 

 

_ “You’ve been here this whole time. You tried to talk to me back when we did that mind meld thing,” _ Lance’s breath hitches and guilt crawls up his spine and digs its claws in his shoulders. He should have known. He should have tried harder to listen when Shiro reached out to him.  _ “That’s not you that came back,” _

 

Shiro’s shoulders stiffen and then he releases a whoosh of air. He straightens his spine and locks eyes with Lance, looking ever like the leader of Voltron. Looking like the man who has been through hell, who has seen the universe and more and still stands strong and kind and hopeful in the face of it all. Lance can’t believe that he ever thought that imposter was him. He’s idolized this man for years and he should have followed his gut. He should have trusted his intuition. 

 

_ “No. I never came back. I...Lance, I died that day after my fight with Zarkon,”  _ Shiro supplied reluctantly. _ “The Black Lion managed to bring my soul here, but my actual body is gone. I’ve been here since that day,” _ Shiro’s voice started out strong but by the end he was almost whispering. Shifting his eyes and staring at Lance’s nose uncomfortably. 

 

_ “Then who is that walking around the Castle with your face!”   _ Lance yelled, laughing a bit hysterically at the end. Shiro made eye contact again and immediately winced. His metal fist clenched a few times and then tapped a short rhythm on his thigh. 

 

_ “I honestly don’t know. If I had to guess, I’d say the witch has something to do with it,”  _ Shiro said as he raised his flesh hand to massage the bridge of his nose. 

 

_ “That’s why Black wouldn’t let him in at first. He knew it wasn’t really you because you were here,”  _ Lance flew forward with his legs crossed and his hands on his knees.

 

Red had been stoically perch a few feet away but chose this moment to pace the short distance towards them. She approached the space immediately behind Lance, circled once and plopped down. The water wavered slightly but again did not splash. She yawned comically big, exposing huge fangs and then rested her head next to her Paladin's hip. 

 

_ “We tried to tell you, but the bond was too flimsy. Black only let him in because he knew that Voltron needed a Black Paladin with Keith gone,”  _ Shiro provided, squinting his eyes at Red as she began licking lazily at her paw. Shiro was about to comment on the unnecessary act of a sentient, magical cat beings and their grooming habits when Lance loudly interrupted him. 

 

_ “Oh, QUIZNAK!” _

 

_ “What? Lance, what’s wrong?”  _ Shiro looked on in concern as Lance planted his head into his palms and then flopped back dramatically into Red’s side. Red huffed loudly and shifted a bit but otherwise looked unconcerned as she moved to grooming her other paw, her Paladin groaning into her rippling fur. 

 

_ “Keith is going to KILL me when he finds out what happened! Oh man. I’m so screwed when he gets back from that stupid mission. We haven’t even heard from him in like a whole phoeb. Maybe I can get back before they get a chance to tell him! Yeah, what he doesn’t know won’t end in me being impaled on a sword,”  _ Lance ranted, his hands and arms flailing and punctuating his sentences. He ended his tirade with a fist punching into his palm, a smirk decorating his face. 

 

**_IF we can get you back._ **

 

_ “Red!”  _

 

**_It is the truth. I may be a 10,000 year old, magical being but that does not make me all knowing. Our pride has spent phoebs trying to return you without success and we are no closer than when we started. I don't even know how I managed to bring him here, let alone how send him back._ **

 

Shiro flinches and immediately turns to Lance, expecting another melt-down probably. But at this point Lance has had his fill of drama for the afternoon and has settled into the madness of this entire situation. 

 

_ “Would it kill you to have some optimism, kitten-face?”  _ Lance said lightly, his hand flapping in the air before he reclined back into her chest, his arms pillowing his head. Red chuffed lightly and ruffled his hair, then laid her head on her paws without a response. 

 

_ “Look, Lance. Black and I have been thinking and we think that if we can connect to the Paladins and get their help, maybe with Allura’s quitencessence they can guide your soul back. We just have to find a way to open the bond to tell them we're here,” _ Shiro looked thoughtful, the wrinkle appearing between his brows again. But Lance wasn’t lying when he said he trusted Shiro.

 

_ “Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's figure out how to yell at our friends from the cosmic abyss!”   _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for how long this chapter took to get out. Life got crazy but I graduated medic school and got a new job! I also kind of exploded with ideas for this story. I wanted to make sure I knew what I wanted to do before continuing. So basically this story is kind of the preface to what will be the sequel where the Paladins get back to Earth and everything goes A LOT differently (okay, entirely. Sorry, not sorry canon). This story lays the very important framework for that story. The outline is completely written for this work and will be completed as soon as I can. Now that I'm not in school fulltime, I should have more time to focus on writing in my free time! Thank you everyone for sticking with me and I hope you enjoy where this story is going! Hope ya'll are ready for the SLOWEST OF SLOW BURNS! Stick with me tho because the Klance is happen. But these bois are disaster gays so you know this won't be easy. Dont judge my garage babies! Find me on tumblr @ h-awk-ward 
> 
> Next time on TSiR: The Paladins mourn, Keith has some very confusing visions on the space whale, and Lance wishes magic were less complicated.

**Author's Note:**

> My brain hasn't been able to leave this idea alone for WEEKS. So here you go. I have no idea what I'm doing but just know that there's going to be a lot of tears, weird Altean magic, and mama lions who just want their idiot sons to STOP TRYING TO DIE EVERY MINUTE. I'm going to try and bang this whole thing out pretty quickly. It won't be super long so hopefully I get it done before season 7 releases. Hope you guys enjoy and suffer with me! 
> 
> Sidenote this is unbeta'd so please feel free to message me with any corrections I may have missed. 
> 
> This is sort of how I picture Lance's astral plane:
> 
>  
> 
> [here](https://goo.gl/images/wy95zT)


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